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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Tree feel when the note on the fridge makes her laugh?

2. What does M'Vy admit to, after Tree finds pills in Dab's room?

3. How does Dab seem to be doing, when Tree, M'Vy and Silversmith look into his room?

4. How does the narrator say M'Vy feels when she takes care of Dab?

5. What does Tree insist on at the funeral?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator describe the relationship between M'Vy and Dab?

2. How is Silversmith described?

3. What does Tree see from the back seat of the car, when no one knows she is there?

4. What are Tree's feelings about Dab's sickness?

5. What does Tree learn when she sees Brother Rush after Dab's death?

6. What prompts Tree to decide to leave home?

7. What does Tree see when she and M'Vy are transported back to the past together?

8. What is Tree and M'Vy's relationship like, at the end of the book?

9. Describe Tree's relationship with Silversmith.

10. What does Tree tell M'Vy about Dab's funeral?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence? Describe an element that ought to have been covered, and explain why it would have made the book stronger.

Essay Topic 2

Many stories of people living in poor circumstances are centered on the possibility that one day they'll live better lives, especially when children are involved, since everyone wants to think that children raised in poverty will be better taken care of in the future. What role does this storyline play in "Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush"? What hope do we have for Tree's future, and how does the story encourage us to believe that her future will be better than the present?

Essay Topic 3

M'Vy tells Tree that she had not told her much about her family because she wanted to keep a closed fist to beat fate. Does Tree try to beat fate, or how does she try to deal with fate's effect on her life? Who else has techniques for dealing with fate? How successful do these other techniques seem to be?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 881 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample